hoppy easter!

oh, easter 2011...where do i start...with the 3 hour easter vigil we accidentally attended? nah.  with the flowers i 'stole' from the neighboring vacant house? no thanks.  with the zillion trips to every grocery store in the area? nope, i'm repressing that memory.  let's start from the very beginning, the very best place to start...

my mother-in-law had to have shoulder surgery a few weeks before easter so originally we were going to help with some cooking and have the holiday in nj.  as the surgery got closer it seemed like that plan was not going to fly...fast forward to a mid-afternoon gchat with my sister-in-law and wham, bam, thank you ma'am easter was moved to my little ol' house!  many people might've started pulling their hair out immediately, but not me, i was stoked!!  i didn't think there was any chance we'd be hosting a holiday anytime soon but i knew we could live up to the high standards that our parents have set in the years past.

i got started right away with menu planning.  thankfully i'm a borderline magazine hoarder so i consulted a few years worth of easter martha and bon appetit to get some ideas.

 and then the mess of lists began...

i love lists, can't live without them, especially for something that requires a whole lotta coordination.  at one point i think i had 5 lists going in various locations, organized chaos at it's best.  i've learned from the best and know that taking on a big dinner requires attention to each and every detail...so i read and reread my recipes and walked through everything in my head and on paper - down to which dishes i'd use - so when the day arrived we were busy but not stressed.  plus most of the work was done in advance so the kitchen was kept pretty clean throughout the day.

there was a great ham vs lamb debate and the decision maker came down to oven space.  if i made ham that would limit my options for sides, etc, since i only have one oven.  so i went the lamb route and sent it out to the grill for speed and oven space.

the only thing i didn't plan on was how many times i'd have to wash my darn food processor!  that appliance definitely paid for itself with all of the use it got on friday and saturday.  super thankful that i recently picked up a second set of measuring spoons from anthropologie...they make me smile :).

more easter deets tomorrow!